My Teacher Is an Alien by Bruce Coville Page B

Duncan.
    He's such a creep he probably didn't even know he was lying.
    Peter wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "I did not," he said sullenly.
    I could see that his hand was trembling.
    "No more," said the tall man, as if he really didn't care who started it. "Do you understand?"
    "Yes, sir," mumbled Peter. I wanted to shake him. He made it sound as if the whole thing had been his fault.
    "Do you understand?" said the tall man again, looking directly at Duncan.
    "Sure," said Duncan. "I got it."
    "Good," said the tall man. Then he turned on his heel and marched back into the school.
    Duncan made a face at the man's back, then wandered off to find someone else to pick on.
    "Who was that?" asked Peter as I handed him his soggy book.
    "Who knows? I never saw him before. He's probably a new sub. Come on—let's go inside."
    Peter and I were usually the first ones into school—but not by much. Our whole class went in early. That's because our teacher, Ms. Marie Schwartz, was so totally great. The thing I liked best about having her was that she was the only teacher in Kennituck Falls Elementary who always did a play with her class. I've always wanted to be an actress when I grow up. But until sixth grade, I had never had a chance to find out what it was like to be onstage. The play would be our last major project, and we had planned to start rehearsals right after spring vacation.
    Unfortunately, when we got to our room, Ms. Schwartz was nowhere to be seen. The tall blond man was standing beside her desk, talking to a short, red-faced man who had almost no hair—our school principal, Dr. Bleekman.
    Where was Ms. Schwartz?
    Peter and I went to our desks. I wasn't happy. I had a bad feeling about this whole thing.
    "The sub is handsome," whispered Stacy, who had come in behind us.
    "I suppose so," I said grudgingly. "Where do you suppose Ms. Schwartz is?"
    Stacy shrugged. "Maybe she's sick. Or maybe her plane didn't make it back on time. That happened to my third grade teacher once."
    I nodded. That was OK. It was disappointing to come back to someone besides Ms. Schwartz, but I could cope with it for a day or two.
    The other kids came into the room. Because Dr. Bleekman was there, everyone was super quiet. The bell rang, and we took our places.
    "Good morning, class," said Dr. Bleekman. "I want to introduce Mr. John Smith. Mr. Smith will be your teacher for the rest of the year."
    The rest of the year! I couldn't believe my ears! What happened to Ms. Schwartz*
    Without intending to, I asked the question out loud.

 

     
     
Microsoft Corporation

CHAPTER TWO - Note of Doom
     
    Dr. Bleekman glared at me. "Susan, if you have something to say, I expect you to raise your hand."
    Well, ex cuuuuse me! I thought. But there was no sense in making things worse than they already were, so I raised my hand. When Dr. Bleekman pointed at me I said—as politely as I could—"What happened to Ms. Schwartz?"
    "That is a private matter," replied Dr. Bleekman.
    What was that supposed to mean? Was she preg nant? Did she have some horrible disease? Did she get fired? And whatever it was, why hadn't she warned us? Why hadn't she said goodbye?
    Without thinking about what I was doing, I stood up and said, "I want to know where she is!"
    Dr. Bleekman looked at me in surprise. His cheeks got redder. "Do you know the meaning of the word private, Miss Simmons?" he asked.
    "Yes, sir," I said quietly and slipped back into my seat. While I sat there, fuming, Dr. Bleekman blathered on about how he expected us to behave for our new teacher. Then he turned us over to Mr. Smith and left the room.
    As I watched him go, I wondered if Dr. Bleekman had secretly fired Ms. Schwartz. I had always sus pected he didn't like her—mostly because she didn't do things "by the book." I had heard them arguing about it once when I came back to school to get some papers I had left behind.
    "Ms. Schwartz, I must ask you to show more respect for the curriculum," Dr.